Chapter 20, Problem 32E

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation: The time for the given period for plutonium-239 needs to be determined.

Concept Introduction: The time required to disintegrate exactly half of the radioactive substance is called half-life period.

The integrated rate equation can be represented as follows:

  $t=\frac{2.303}{\lambda }\log \frac{n_o}{n_t}$

Here, $\lambda$ is decay constant and for first order reaction, it is related to half-life time as follows:

  $\lambda =\frac{0.6932}{t_{1/2}}$